Tottenham moved to the top of Europa League Group J after Mousa Dembele's superb late winner against Anderlecht.
The Belgian side were the brighter team early on but that ended when Harry Kane scored his fifth goal in eight games by sweeping in Christian Eriksen's flick.
Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was kept busy by the shot-hungry visitors.
And although Imoh Ezekiel came off the bench to equalise with 18 minutes left, substitute Dembele fired in from 18 yards against the run of play.
The Tottenham defence had their hands full with Anderlecht striker Stefano Okaka causing problems, but having let a lead slip two weeks ago, this time Spurs were rewarded for a solid defensive performance.
If they beat bottom side Qarabag on 26 November and Monaco defeat Anderlecht, Mauricio Pochettino's side will qualify for the knockout stages with a game to spare.
The return of Spurs striker Son Heung-min after six weeks out with a foot injury was also a welcome boost ahead of Sunday's north London derby against Arsenal.
After their 2-1 win in Brussels, the Belgian side showed why they are second in the Jupiler Pro League as they gave Spurs a stiff test once again.
Despite going behind to Kane's goal just before the half-hour mark they did not lose their early momentum and peppered the Spurs goal with shots from distance, while the hosts' defence was also kept busy all evening dealing with a succession of crosses.
For the most part Lloris and his defenders were accomplished in their efforts to repel Besnik Hasi's team but Ezekiel's well-timed run allowed him to poke home Steven Defour's cross only three minutes after coming on.
The Nigerian also had a decent chance to score with 10 minutes left but Toby Alderweireld made one of many well-timed tackles.
That missed chance proved crucial as Dembele collected the ball from fellow replacement Son and smashed a right-footed shot from the edge of the box into the top corner.
After winning his first call-up from Roy Hodgson, Eric Dier - alongside Kane and Deli Alli - completed a hat-trick of Spurs players on show who are in the squad for England's friendlies against Spain and France
But after a decent first half, he subsequently had a relatively quiet night alongside Ryan Mason in the deep-lying central midfield positions, with Alli pushed in behind Kane.
The striker showed that he is back to goalscoring form, having scored only once in his previous 13 games prior to a hat-trick at Bournemouth on 25 October.
The 22-year-old carved out two chances before taking his goal superbly, not even looking towards goal before finding the bottom corner from 18 yards.
Alli, who has completed a remarkable rise from League One Milton Keynes to the England squad in five months, has impressed in Tottenham's midfield this season but the 19-year-old struggled at times in the number 10 position as his passing went awry.
Twice he wasted excellent chances to play in Erik Lamela and it was telling that Kane's goal came when Eriksen moved infield to cleverly set up his team-mate.
However, Alli did improve in the second half and was unlucky to see a shot deflected off target.
He was eventually replaced by fellow teenager Josh Onomah 13 minutes from the end, and despite his apparent frustration as he took his place on the bench, it will have been another excellent lesson as his status continues to grow.
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino: "It's a very important win. Our objective before was to win and go top, and we have done that.
"Today I congratulate the players because sometimes when you don't play well you need to show character and compete and suffer. Today we learned a lot.
"I am pleased because we are top of the group and now we need to focus only on Sunday."
On Harry Kane's return to goalscoring form: "We never had any doubts about him. Always the top players sometimes have times when they struggle to score.
"We are very pleased with him, very happy he has started to score again and I think we deserved to take the three points."
